The
Bush Administration today announced unprecedented federal initiatives
designed to organize the federal government’s climate change
science research system along with funding for global climate observation.

The
new, historic initiative brings together the resources and expertise
of 13 federal agencies. The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP),
a joint federal program of the President’s Committee on Climate
Change Science and Technology Integration, has issued its strategic
plan to address some of the most complex questions and problems dealing
with long-term global climate variability and change. It reflects
an unprecedented outreach to interested parties, including some 1,200
scientists and stakeholders and representatives of over 35 countries.
The document describes a strategy for developing knowledge of variability
and change in climate and related environmental and human systems,
and for encouraging the application of this knowledge.

Secretary
of Commerce Don
Evans also announced a $103 million two-year federal initiative
to accelerate the deployment of new global observation technologies,
focused on oceans and atmospheric aerosols and carbon. This initiative
will provide critical data needed to improve mankind’s understanding
of global climate change and the ability of all nations to apply their
knowledge. “The Bush Administration has brought a total government
spending on climate-change related programs to $4.5 billion. This
critical investment announced today will accelerate select high priority
research projects and climate observations that will help us fill
critical knowledge gaps.”

“President
Bush has asked his advisors to consider approaches to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, including those that tap the power of markets, help
realize the promise of technology and ensure the widest-possible global
participation. The Climate Change Strategic Plan brings together for
the first time the resources and expertise of 13 federal agencies.
It sets forth a vision, mission and goals based on the principles
articulated by President Bush when he established the Climate Change
Research Initiative (CCRI),” said Don Evans, secretary of Commerce
and chairman of the administration’s Committee on Climate Change
Science and Technology Integration.

Those
principles include:

Adopt a measured approach based on the best science

Remain flexible, able to adapt to new discoveries and technology

Leverage the power of markets and technological innovation

Ensure global participation

Ensure continued economic growth

The
strategic plan will advance the state of knowledge of climate variability,
the potential response of the climate system (and related human and
environmental systems) to human-induced changes in the atmosphere
and land surface, and the implications of these potential changes
and management options for natural environments. The plan will also
support scientific discovery and excellence, and encourage partnerships
that facilitate the use of knowledge to protect the Earth’s
environment and ensure a safer, healthier planet for future generations.

According
to Spencer
Abraham, secretary of Energy and co-chairman of the Committee
on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration, “This
plan identifies four core approaches that will serve as the backbone
to achieving its mission. Those areas are identified as science, observations,
decision support and communications. By focusing in these specific
areas we can focus on moving in new scientific directions, employing
new research activities, filling critical data gaps through observations,
developing operational tools for decision-makers and managers and
communicating results across communities and across borders.”

Working
within the core constructs, the plan outlines five overarching scientific
goals aimed at addressing key questions and uncertainties. They include:

Extend
knowledge of the Earth’s past and present climate and environment,
including its natural variability, and improve understanding of
the causes of observed changes

Improve
understanding of the forces bringing about changes in the Earth’s
climate and related systems

Reduce
uncertainty in projections of how the Earth’s climate and
environmental systems may change in the future

Understand
the sensitivity and adaptability of different natural and managed
systems to climate and associated global changes

Explore
the uses and identify the limits of evolving knowledge to manage
risks and opportunities related to climate variability and change

“The
CCSP strategic plan is a framework to address some of the most complex
questions and problems that our nation and the world now face,”
said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad
C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans
and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The issue of climate
variability and change, the level and potential affects of human contributions
to these issues and how we adapt and manage our response is a capstone
issue for our generation and those to follow.”

James
R. Mahoney, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere,
deputy NOAA administrator and director of the CCSP stated, “This
plan leverages existing knowledge to learn new things, builds bridges
across communities and scientific disciplines to gain greater insight,
reaches out to decision-makers to put knowledge into action. We are
committed to maintaining an open and transparent process to ensure
that our partners are heard and we hear them. It stakes out new scientific
ground in the area of climate-change modeling and observations and
promises to adapt to new technology and discoveries.”

Reacting
to the unveiling of the CCSP, Bruce Albert, president of the National
Academy of Sciences said the following, “I highly commend Jim
Mahoney for his insistence on soliciting the widest possible scientific
input into the US government’s important Strategic Plan for
Climate Change Science. As our government sets national priorities
for global change research, it is critical that it have access to
leading scientists. I am of course especially pleased that he has
asked the National Academies to conduct an open, high quality review
of both the draft and revised versions of the Strategic Plan. Our
committee chaired by Thomas Graedel of Yale University has already
reviewed the draft strategic plan, working to provide constructive
advice for its revision. This committee will continue to provide useful
guidance to the Climate Change Science Program from a group of the
nation’s best scientists, and it will meet again this August
to begin its review of the revised Strategic Plan.